MOAB blew story of us killing 18 US-backed Kurdish fighters in Syria by mistake

[bathroommonkey76]

right out of the headlines ... PR mission accomplished.

Link to tweet

The U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) accidentally killed 18 fighters from the coalition’s main Syrian partner on the ground, the coalition said Thursday.

A “misdirected” airstrike hit a fighting position of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) south of Tabqa on Tuesday, according to a coalition statement.

The SDF is a coalition of Arab and Kurdish fighters and is considered by the United States to be the most effective local force fighting against ISIS.

The SDF, backed by coalition forces in the air and on the ground, has been fighting for control of the city of Tabqa, as well as the nearby strategic Tabqa Dam, as it works to isolate the de facto ISIS capital of Raqqa.
Tuesday’s strike was requested by “partnered forces,” according to the coalition. They had identified the target as an ISIS fighting position, the statement said, but the target was actually a forward SDF fighting position.

Read more:

http://thehill.com/policy/defense/328655-misdirected-us-led-coalition-airstrike-kills-18-allied-fighters-in-syria

[herding cats]

1. It did.

The Kurdish fighters story was all over the news this AM, then it was gone.

I still believe the primary purpose for the MOAB use was for the military, and by extension Trump, to wave their big phallic symbolism at North Korea and feel bigly, but it did have the secondary effect of erasing coverage of the messed up mission and the dead Kurdish fighters by the US led forces.

[bathroommonkey76]

2. Has anyone in the media been saying this about the MOAB strike?

I've had the same thoughts all day about NK.

After reading this story it is doubtful that the Trump admin will set off a war this weekend:

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/14/us-vice-president-mike-pence-heads-to-seoul-as-north-korea-tensions-flare.html

I still think NK will go through with their nuke test.

[herding cats]

3. Personally, I've not seen anyone saying such in the MSM.

But, I could have missed something easily as I've been focused on major news outlets tailored to actual reports and not commentary today.

I agree, were not off to war with NK this weekend, no matter how their nuclear test goes. People forget South Korea has a voice in this, and they also have the most flesh in the game. They would throw us out before they'd permit such an action. Short term imminent suicide vs. slow bleeding out with hope of rescue? Which would a sane person pick?

On edit: Trump and our Generals in charge of the military aren't helping here. They're feeding the propaganda machine in NK in ways it's never imagined would happen in reality. Literally, they're quoting Trump's tweets verbatim and feeding their loyalist off his verbiage. This is not a safe, nor stable situation by any means.

[bathroommonkey76]

6. They're rabid gorrillas in camo thumping their chests

To be honest this could be the scariest situation of my lifetime.

I don't trust Trump, his generals, his kids, or anyone associated with his administration.

And I hope the military are tuning up our SDI program (if it exists). #ForReal

[Warren DeMontague]

4. Man, the Kurds just cant catch a break.

[democratisphere]

5. One "bombshell" cover-up after another.

The truth still remains after the smoke clears.